According to a bunch of scientific studies we are more stressed today than we were 20 years ago. You would think that with all the technology and its capabilities, we would be more relaxed as things that used to be done manually are done by a computer now. But alas, our fingers are tired from tweeting, our eyes exhausted from skyping, our arms are fatigued from taking pictures of ourselves from our reverse cameras.
Its a hard life now, so hard that in my most recent job interview the employer asked me: "And how do you relieve stress?" The first thing that came to mind was "Umm well I like to eat my feelings in the way of something chocolate, then wash it down with wine"...but what I actually said was "I work out, exercise and physical activity are really important to me." And it is! but sometimes its a toss up between the two since I am a big believer that good food cures many emotions and that is just a fact of life. But having been a ballet dancer for 16 years, physical activity does play a big role in my life, especially when I'm stressed.
Along with the health benefits of exercise, working out (in any way) boosts the happy hormones, the sexy hormones (wink,wink) and gives you an overall glow that even a triple chocolate brownie cant bring about. And while I am also a huge believer in retail therapy, shopping for a new purse or shoes always puts me in a good mood, exercising is free and that makes it the most economical stress reliever to date!
So weather you are weight lifting, going for a jog, pole dancing or dancing in any way, channeling you inner yogi and taking up a yoga class, getting up and being active can relieve you in a way you never imagined. The key thing I try to remember is to not make it a chore and although I am guilty of having the feeling of dragging myself to the gym sometimes, the feeling I get after is well worth it.
Here are some facts you may not have known, about the benefits of staying physically active:
1) Of course I know you know exercise controls weight, but in keeping with my bluntly honest approach on how I overcome stress, if you want to reach for that triple chocolate brownie, how about walk the stairs at work instead of ride the elevator? a nice trade up wouldn't you say?
2) Exercise is a non medicinal way to decrease your risk for health problems, and remedy current ones. Physical activity is one of the first things I would tell someone to do if they have high cholesterol, it increases the good cholesterol (HDL) and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. Exercising is also a way of decreasing risk for other ailments such as heart disease and diabetes.
3) It actually increases your energy levels. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the girl who works out at the beginning of my day before work, but if you are, more power to you. But you will realize that the more regular you exercise, the more oxygen and nutrients are delivered to your tissues thus increasing your energy levels to get through your day.
4) Most importantly, exercise makes "Sexy Time" fun! Working out releases endorphins, the same ones that chocolate can induce which makes you more than willing to jump in the sack (or wherever sexy time happens) and have more calorie burning fun! Of course after working out you will also feel better about your body and this will help you let go of your inhibitions.
So what are you waiting for? Thank you for reading my blog, but go out and get your sweat on, because the best Beauty Recipe I have is to work it out! Let your stress melt away, jam to some amazing tunes and just make sure you have fun doing it! Need a good tune to jam to while sweating it out? Listen to this song Ive attached its on my current playlist!
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